


Curatives

by hakaseheart



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Potions, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 20:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11192598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hakaseheart/pseuds/hakaseheart
Summary: Potion: An energy drink that takes on healing properties by way of Noctis' powers.





	Curatives

“Hey, boss?”

Rusty had been working at the Coernix station for nearly two months, and while he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he certainly worked hard. He was perfectly content to stock shelves while his boss did the paperwork or, more often, hung around the gas station talking to the customers. Rusty didn't care much about socializing, though. He just liked having a job.

He waited another moment before trying again. “Boss?”

It was another moment before Tritus came back into the store, sighing and scratching at the back of his neck. “What's up, Rusty? Something wrong?”

Shaking his head, Rusty let himself look at the beverages he was stocking in the cooler. The setup was simple and without excessive advertisement, and he think he'd figured out why. “Not wrong, just...” He picked up a bottle labeled _Kenny C Sports_ and held it towards his boss. “Why do we stock this stuff, anyway?”

Tritus blinked, then walked past Rusty to fuss with the register. “It's product, Rusty. We sell stuff here, remember?”

“I know that,” Rusty affirmed, to himself just as much as to Tritus. “But it doesn't sell.”

Chuckling, Tritus idly counted the drawer. “You're stocking it, aren't you?”

Rusty shrugged and put the bottle on the shelf. It clinked against the row already perfectly lined up in the cooler as it filled the lone vacancy. “Yeah, but...I think this is the first one I've stocked since I started here.”

“So it's a slow mover.”

Undeterred, Rusty picked up another drink. “I've only had to stock one or two of _Warp Cola_ , too. Maybe one of _Insomnia Special Black_.” He rustled around in the box, carefully knocking the bottles into each other as he searched for more examples. “And this _Cactuar Hyper_? I don't think it's ever sold. Not in two months, Mister Tritus.”

His boss closed the drawer with a chime and a sigh. “You going somewhere with this, Rusty?”

The young man chewed thoughtfully on his lip. “I mean...have you ever tried them?”

Rolling his eyes, Tritus leaned against the counter. “Once or twice. Why?”

“Well, they're...terrible.” He picked up a bright blue bottle, half the size of the others, and shuddered. “This _5-Flan Energy_ stuff? Tastes like charcoal. And _Basilisk Buzz_ says it's cherry-flavored, but I swear it tastes like fish oil. Cherry-flavored fish oil.” His mouth opened and closed involuntarily, like he was reliving the nasty flavor on his tongue. “These drinks...they don't sell, and they taste bad. Why do we have them?”

His boss shot him a suspicious look. “You're buying these before trying them, right, Rusty?”

Rusty nodded, unaffected by the implied accusation of theft.

Tritus gave him a long, steady look, then broke into an even longer sigh. “Yeah, I know, they hardly sell, and they're all terrible.” He couldn't help but chuckle at the surprise on Rusty's face at his admission. “What, you think I'm completely out of touch? I've gotten the complaints from customers trying that junk first-hand.”

Blinking at the red-and-black decoration on the _Red_ _Bulette_ bottle, Rusty could barely answer. “Then...why...”

“Because.” Tritus looked towards the door nervously, then walked a few steps closer to Rusty so he wouldn't have to talk quite so loudly. His face was more serious than the young man had seen before. “It's the law.”

Rusty gaped. “The law?”

His boss nodded soberly. “About five years ago, the king issued a quiet proclamation that certain brands of energy drinks had to be carried in every store in the country. There's a whole list of them in the back of my order book, if you don't believe me.” He waited to confirm that Rusty did, in fact, believe him, before continuing. “I ordered a case of each. The shelf dates on the stuff are nearly ten years out, Rusty. Trust me, I'm not bringing more in anytime soon.”

Utterly bewildered by the information, Rusty stared at the box of energy drinks before shrugging and returning to the task at hand. He was done in a matter of seconds, and started to lug the slightly-diminished crate towards the back room. The thin walls did little to mask the rumble of a fancy car rolling up to the station, but he was still surprised when he returned to see four men wandering about the store.

“Oh, dude, here!” A blonde man about Rusty's age was gesturing towards the cooler he'd just finished restocking. “They've got it all! Sweet!”

Another young man with black hair whistled appreciatively while browsing the magazine rack. “How much _Warp Cola_ do they have?”

Rusty watched as a scholarly-looking gentleman walked over to the cooler and peered inside. “Fully stocked, it would seem.” He hummed in approval and opened the cooler door. “We're running rather low on _Daemon_ , don't you think?” He looked towards the counter and gave Rusty a prim smile when their eyes met. “Excuse me, would you happen to have a bag handy?”

Nodding, Rusty grabbed a bag from under the counter. Then, after another moment, he grabbed a second before walking over to hand them to the customer. “Here you go,” he said lamely, not sure what to make of the situation. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tritus gaping at the strange customers. “I just restocked, actually.”

“Brilliant.” The gentleman flashed him an approving smile, and Rusty felt like he'd just done the best thing of his entire life. “I do apologize, we'll likely be cleaning your cooler out in another moment.”

“S'alright.” The word was lumpy in Rusty's mouth, but he persevered. “I'll be at the counter when you're ready.”

It took five minutes for the men to empty his cooler into the two bags, which ended up being the perfect amount of storage for their purchases. Rusty went on to ring them up for one of the largest tickets he'd ever seen in the store, which earned him another smile from the gentleman before the group began to make their way out of the store.

The last in their group, a veritable mountain of a man with a tattoo Rusty couldn't tear his eyes from, walked up to the counter as the others left. “We'll be back now and then,” he murmured as he placed a handful of gil on the countertop. “Keep 'er stocked and we'll keep you in business, alright?”

Rusty nodded without even looking at the gil. “Yessir.” The man flashed him a wolfish grin and left the store, and in another moment the car rumbled away and he was left with an empty cooler and a very flabbergasted boss.

He took a moment to look at the counter and at the cooler, and wasn't surprised when Tritus didn't protest him pocketing every last coin of the gil. “Hey, Mister Tritus, should I...?”

Tritus nodded. “You restock. I'm gonna call in a rush order.”

Rusty smiled in reponse. “Yessir, right away.”

He liked having his job.

 

**Author's Note:**

> One thing I love about the FFXV universe is that all of the potions are canonically just energy drinks that only heal because of Noctis' magic. XD Because of that, I came up with my own list of drinks and their corresponding effects:  
>  _Kenny C Sports_ (Potion)  
>  _Insomnia Special Black_ (Elixir)  
>  _Daemon_ (Hi-Potion)  
>  _Warp Cola_ (Ether)  
>  _Red Bulette_ (Hi-Elixir)  
>  _Cactuar Hyper_ (Megalixir)  
>  _5-Flan Energy_ (Mega-Potion)  
>  _Basilisk Buzz_ (Remedy)  
>  _ZuDo_ (Antidote)


End file.
